robert: new clues in the mueller probe. is it winding down or up? i'm robert costa. welcome to "washington week >> he was my first choice since day one. respected by republicans. and respeed by democrats. robert: president trump nominates william barr, a former attorney general under the late presidbush for another stint at the department of justice. and as robert eller plows forward, the president steps up his attack on the special council setting the stage for political and legal. but what do new court documents reveal aboutformer trump associates? and what's the game plan for the president's counterreport? plus, staff turbulence shakes up the president's circle. and we remember president george

h.w. bush next. ♪ announcer: this is "washington week." funding is provided by -- >> kevin. >> kevin. >> kevin. >> advice for life. life well planned learn mor at raymondjames.com. announcer: funding is provided by -- newman's own foundation donating all profits from newma ps own foodducts to charity and nourishing the mmon good. edo and patricia yuen foundation, commio bridging cultural differences in our commuties. the ethics & excellence foundation. and by contributions to your pbs statwen from viers like you. thank you.

once again, fromhi wton, moderator robert costa. robert: good evening. new federal court documents a giving us a glimpse into the scope ollf robert m's investigation and the roles of three key figures. first, michael flynn, president rtrump's for national security advisor. he pleaded guilty to liing to the f.b.i. but has beeng corporatith mueller who recommended little or no prison time for flynnhis week. then there is michael coe went, the president's former lawyer. he pleaded guilty to lying to. congre prosecutors say heer dess substantial prison time despite his corporation. the president has railed against .im as a turncoat and paul manafort, the former trump campaign chairman pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges but violated his plea agreement and is n in solitary confinement virginia.

what a week. joining me tonight andrea mitchell, chief correspondent for nbc news. philip rucker,buhite house au chief for "the washington post." abby phillip, washington correspondent for cnn and car hulse, chief washington correspondent for the "new york times." a busyy, fri andrea. i appreciate everyone being here. i know you all came from your newsrooms. start with michael coe went, a -revealing documenthey're being pretty tough on him saying he should still go t jail. what's important for president trump? >> for president trump who is central in all of these filings, for president trump it's importanthat cohen according to the prosecuto coordinating his false twm the white house. who in the white house? we don't know. but tha coordination is certainly trouble for the white house and for the president as well. a ano that president trump himself direct those paymes. we knew this from his plea. but this is very specific that

the president of the united states directed those payments when he was candidate to those two women. and this is aiolation of campaign finance law as has been admitted to and thabet they eve that cohen does not deserve a lenient sentence. they say his corporation was not immediate or full. theet dls about his -- the allegations that have now been esblished of tax violations, millions of dollars in unpaid taxes is a lot more to michael coe went than what we knew before. robert: the president said in a tweet, phil that he's notie wothat he's in the clear. is that the sense in the white house? >> he'sot in the clear. but this is something of the president to create an alternate ity, that it's a witch hunt, it's phony, don't believe what you see in the news. when these court filings have d

all thails in which he's not clear. there's one other thing in the , cohen fil which is a new contact that cohen had with the russians. n this was november of 2015. it's detailed by the prosecutors. that a russian national who claimed to be representing the federation offered synergy with government to connect the trump campaign with russia, try to set up a meeting between trump and t adimir putin. cohen didcept the meeting, didn't spont. but it's another example of the russians try to infiltrate. as ere were more russian well as that one. robert: so not collusion. ifichael coe went provided all of this information to robert lleller's investigation, why are the prosecutors seing so tough on him? >> part of this has to do with the cases involving the tax issues that are separate from the mueller investigation, and s they bally said that michael coe went was using -- cohen was

lying about it. and then when he was being caught wasn't being wholesome about the truth. in that particular dse, the al prosecutors are saying michael coe went doesn't deserve any leniency because he flagrantlyaw broke the to the tune of millions of dollars. when it comes cohen wants zero prisonime. but he's it's not going to nullify his tax evasion that he was accused of and found guilty of and the other case involving federal prosecutors in new york. robert: carl, house democrats take the maj in january. they must be watching this

tonight andhesay individual one was involved -- individual e meaning president trump with this campaign violation. what does this mean next year? >> it took about 10 minutes before i got my first release from an incoming member of the democratic leadership saying these are incredibly serious charges and we are going to hold the president accountable. and senator dianne feinstein ing out with a blist statement. she's senior democrat on the judiciary committeen the senate saying that this looks like a felony directed -- at the direction of the president. this would have gotten the wheels churning quickly. this is is the kind of things that the democrats would sink their teethn to. they would like for the democrats to d something about it. but that's not going to happen. there's a road map coming out that are being relsed.

robert: why did michael flynn get -- robert mueller to say het shouldn't g prison, very absolutely time. he's been so helpful and cooperative. what's the difference with flynn? >> first of all, he corporated early and often and told the truth. second of all, the mitigating circumstance is that for 33 years he was considered an exemplary intelligence officer in the feel. he was migilitary intece in afghanistan. he's been in battle. he's been a combat officer. he did very badly as head of t defense intelligence agency and was fired by jim clapper under the obamate house which made him so bitter against president obama. and that's when hen appy turned. and did all these other things. wanted money. dealt with the russians. and also dealt with turkey. and that is the other big part of this. plus, a third investigation and we don't know what that was because that was redacted, blacked out. but they said that he did ge

everything up. he only pleaded guilty to one count oerjury. so that -- that is zero to six mont apparently. the sentencing guidelines are different for the one count in contrast, of course, to cohen for which those tax violations are very, very serious and it's a much higher penalty so that it would be really impossible for him to avoid jail time. robert: and flynn met with ambassador kissly ahe russian ambassador during the trantion. brings a lot of thoughts about that transition. you covered it,hil. >> that's right. there was a discussion betwe flynn and kissly about the sanctions imposed by the oba administration to punish russia for their interference in the 2016 election. one thing that sticks out from the mueller filings earlier this week about flynn is at he's tet with the special council's office 19 sepa times. that is a big number.

that's a lot of corporation. yo wonder what he was saying in all of those meetings. we simply don't know. it h the president and people in his orbit quite worried. >> david ignatius according to the filing, he kicked this all off by noting back in january of 2017 that kisliak had met with flynn around the time of those sanctions and that it was about tellingutin, don't worry once we get in office we're going to pull those sanct ans that's what set mueller on this path. robert: as paul sits inse dare confinement and they're wondering if he's going to break, president trump praising roger stone with having guts and fighting back against investigators. what the white house view on manafort? >> president trump also continueto praiseaul

manafort basically saying that he's being treat unfairly. when president trump talks about the mueller investigation ruining lives. one of the people he's talking elout is paul manafort who he -- and also mic flynn but paul manafort who he believes is getting the short end of the stick on this. the view among the white house aboupaul manafo might be very different from what president trump views it. robert: are they thinking about pardons? >> he continually thinks abouts. pard whether he's willing to do it is a different story. we hear from white house aides that president trump is talking about it. it i a topic o discussion. a lot of people around the president believe that it is a bad idea politically. it's a bad idea in terms of the prident's own legal fatehat he could be putting himself in even greater legal jeopardy if he even starts to hav those conversations.

and on occasions in the past, he's been talked out of it i real concrete ways. so this is a real thing that's o tantly churning. but like a lot of things in the trump white house, all it takese isresident to finally make a decision to move forward. so far he hasn't do it. but i think a lot of people continually hold their breath i ths on the horizon. >> i do this that is something that democrats will be looking very closely. the dangling of the pardons and how that -- rort: do you think they're going to bring female capitol hill -- >> i thank you they will try -- i think they will try and do as much as they >> they have been in touch with the whi house from prison through an intermediary. that's another big suspicires light in mueller's filin tonight. robert: finish up what you were saying about impeachment. >> i didn't say the wor "impeachment." when you look a whatas in those filings today, that this -- part ofou this be well,

what would you impeach the president for?ng there's nothere. there's an accusation in there that manyer e are interpreting as implicating the president in the commission of a felony. that is the kind of thing that you look at when you are conducting oversight into the whit ohouse and what's goingn. >> something specific thatt presidrump continues to be closeted about is his taxes essentially. if michaelasoe wen w going to lie all of this stuff evadingem taxes,rats are saying this is one of the reasons why we want see the president trump's taxes. >> all of this will come back to the department of justice. the president w is head of the president trump announced today that he will nominate william barr to be the next attorney general. barr held that role in the 1990's under the late president

bush. he would oversea the russia investigation, a safe pick for e white house? a reassurance to congress that they're not going to be a trump lohelist in? >> as safe a pick as they coulda had potentially he comes from the establishment legal community of the republicay paere in washington. but he has made some controversial stements about the mueller probe in the past that is sure to come up in his confirmation hearings. he's going to have to figure out how to navigate the questions and demands fromor sen mostly democratic senators. but i think al some republica senators will he pledge to let continue his investigation, will he pledge to be an independent actor at the justice department without being influenced on the russia matter from the white house? and he' going to have to figure out how to navigate while still making sure that he doesn't get on the wrong side of the president. robert: i'm going to follow-up. in may of 2017, barr wrote an

op-ed defending president trump to fire james comey. he told "the post" the same year -- more recently tn th that hillary clinton should be further investigated by the d.o.j. so h bio screams establishment. but his -- h e aligned wi president trump. >> i heard that he's happy about barr. th he worked with him years ago. so there's that. questioning confirmation, he's going to have to make so declaration about protecting the muellerro p. >> i think there's a high comfort level. he's a grown up. he's done this before. they trust him. you know, it's not - and i think the democrats are going to do exactly what we've said. ane've see this from senator blumenthal. he's going to have to commit to t the investigation.

i think -- i think that he was confirmed unanimously when he was confirmed attorney general the first time. mocrats actually liked him. so you know, it's not going to be a kavanaugh situation. it's going to be -- it will probably be ok. robert: and you think about it's not justarroday. the president also announced his pick to be the next u.s.or ambasso the united nations. president trump has tapped heather nauert former fox news host to replace nikki haley at the u.n. you've been at the white house all day, abbyle will shehape u.s. foreign policy or is she more of a spokesperson,? >> it does seem like the pick signals has shifted in that role. nikki haley was a cabinet level ambassador. he wanted to be on equal footing with the secretary of state and other national security officials. she viewed herself as an advisor -- a policy advisor to the

president not jt a spokesperson. heather nauert is a spokesperson, a foreman journalist who communicates well and effectively what the president wan her to communicate. but the big question mark in her rio is her lack of experience in foreign policy at least a lengthy experience there. ha but might be what the president likes about her and also what mike pompeo likes r.out he pompeo, our reporting at cnn wants that role to be not --ot a cabinet level transition in part to treamline the foreign policy through the state department which is more traditional for presidents. so i think we'll see that role diminishing with nauert in that role. robert: your read? tic e doesn't have diplo experience. she was a spokesperson for mpeo at the state department in her current role.th e's criticism that she's not

a diplomat. how is she going to negotiate with tese people? how is she going to have leverage there especiall with a subordinated role r through pompeo? this was a victory for pompeo over john bolton. robert: how many stories are there today? john kelly still there as of 8:20 innihe e. will he be there tomorrow or ck aires coming? >> we're on kelly watch. all signalsrom the white house, all of our reporting that he and trump are at a breaking point. it might be a mutual decision to split. but he's not been fired or resigned yet. it could happen this weeken it could happen monday. nick is the leading contender to replace kelly. but that is by no means a done deal robert: for divided government,

how important is that role? >> it's tremendously important. it's a person who a lot of times runterference directly on the hill and could be murder of a surrogate on t president. nick aires has worked for pence and has a connection there. i still thinkhat the trump administration hasn't adjusted to the new reality and howt differeir lives are going to be. and it's going to take some reao expertiseake this work at all. you talk about that the u.n. go sg up againe experienced people. well, they're going to be going up someed experieeople on the hill too. and the democrats who have been in this position before -- it's going to be tough. >> it couldt signal the presid is pulling back from the idea of getting things done in washington and leaning into needing to figure out how to brawl his way through a re-election fight. nick is viewed by president

trump as someoo has a political head on his shoulders and can help him do that. >> before we go tonight, there's a lot of news.i bus important, we have to pause and we should to president george h.w. bush who passed away this week at the age 94. family, friends, and dignitaries along with five presidents attended the funeral. then in houston he was laid to rest next his wife barbara and their daughter robin in the presidential museum in college station, texas. what a legacy for president bush. what's his legacy in the world? >> he fought for the reunification of germany against the advice of margaret thatcher and nato and the alliance. reshaping europe which means reshaping the world. he navigating the end of the cold war and did it so brilliantly that gorbachev was left able to f safeace. it ended with, you know, not a

bang but a whimper it was a peaceful succession as well as the tremendou -- as well as the restraint he showed and not risking the lives of americans. he created thatoalition including arab states, including egypt and syria in fighting against saddam husain but then withdrawing immediately. it was a brilliant world view. andd he compromi on the budget and knew that he was killing his chances for reelection and defying his no new taxes pledge. he will be treated very kindly in history for that kind of ency aint and for the d and humility he showed. >> back at home, his reputation in washington, his legacy? >> one thing that came through this week was dignity, civility, the interest in compromise. and i think tha was a message nkme people would like to see. i don't te're going to see

this. i think to me he was a transitional president. bute h on his economic policy exactly as she said,e took a big risk and set up clinton for, you know, realtime of prosperity. but he did things like the american with disability act. he thought of government as a calling and a service. ande wanted to see government and people do the right thing. now a lot of times people look at government and say w stop things. this is about not doing much. he was somebody who wanted to accomplish things. robert: the white house was engaged in trying to work with bushes. the president of course, has his own style. what was it like to be at the white house as history happened and the nation saidod ge. >> well, it was a very different kind of experience for this white house. it was without much controversy for a change. i think thereas a lot of

concern that maybe president trump could don't this even after the bushes as "the ashington post" reported extended an olive branch over the summer saying, we want to bring you into this process. there is still always the possibility that predent trump is who is often driven by grievance could not have allowed this to go forward especially given all the comparisons that were happening on cable television about their s and about their demeanors an their temper meants. but he did. and i think he seemedo t very much enjoy the sort of retrospective seeing a presidency go from beginning to end and seeing tr himself wha legacy looks like. and i think for -- foror -- white house aides there was a sigh of relief that he kept it low key, and i think, you know, for once in washington, it felt like a very normal thing had happened. robert: yd phil,ou wrote an

essay for "the post" reflecting on the day it was about president trump and president bush but also the presidency as an institution the way it's changed in the last decades. >> ts was the first time that president trump was with all of his ving predecessors. he was seated with them. but he was standing alone. and there were a lot of moments through that ceremony when the eulogists were talking about president bush, his humility, his call to service, his militaryism, his bravery to leading from the heart. you can see the iplicit contrast to trump. i think it was an uncomfortable momentor trump and a moment when the country realized how much it's changed. robert:nd the republican party >> it has. bush gauched the north american free trade agreement which trump

is un dan:. he sign into ai c thelean air act which the trumple administration is un dan:. it was a different kind of agenda than we have today. >> the -- the decency ofhe man came through, and i mean, he was a veryough competitor in 1988 campaign that i covered was a wicked campaign, the willie horton ads and all the rest. but i was so touched by his son, the president, the other president bush's eulogy and b jim barke the friend in houston that was terribly mrooving. rt: powerful moments. we'll remember those moments and we send our best to the bush family. thanks everybody for being here on a busy, busy friday night. ouon conversation willnue on the washington podcast. you can find that on our website fridays after 10:00 and on your favorite pod cast app. i'm robt costa. have a great weekend. ♪

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75 years ago, the fbi began arreing buddhist priests, japanese-language schoolteachers, and community leaders. within the...within two months, the u.s. government began the mass incarceration of all japanese americans from the west coast. i still remember being 17 when 9/11 happened. probably the first allied, solidarity, friendship event at such a difficult time for our country was hosted by japanese americans in southern califoia.